Jadon Sancho’s social media message to Marcus Rashford after his debut for Aston Villa highlights the “toxicity” at Manchester United.
Rashford joined Sancho in leaving the Red Devils on loan this season, joining Villa for the rest of the campaign, while Sancho left for Chelsea in the summer.
Ruben Amorim exiled Rashford in December after the forward stated his desire for a “new challenge” and Villa came calling late in the January transfer window to offer the England international the chance to reignite his stuttering career.
Rashford came off the bench in Villa’s 2-1 win over Tottenham in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, and Sancho posted ‘freedom’ in a comment on Rashford’s Instagram after the game, accompanied by a blessing and raised hands emoji, in reference to his United escape.
Former United goalkeeper Ben Foster believes the comment from Sancho is evidence of the “toxicity” at Old Trafford.
“What is he doing? That’s ridiculous because he is still actually employed by Manchester United, so is Marcus Rashford,” Foster said on his podcast, Ben Foster – The Cycling GK.
“It just reeks of toxicity at United. It reeks of an unhappy place to be, that everybody’s buzzing for someone to get out [of the club].”
Rashford’s debut was promising, but his signing hasn’t pleased everyone, with The Athletic claiming that fellow January arrival Donyell Malen was left ‘deeply disappointed’ after the England international was included in Aston Villa’s Champions League squad, while the former Borussia Dortmund forward was left out.
Malen, who played in last season’s Champions League final, arrived in the winter transfer window as Aston Villa’s first signing with Aston Villa agreeing a €26m fee with Dortmund for his services.
Speaking after signing his contract at Aston Villa, Malen said: “It’s a big thing, the Champions League. It’s the biggest competition in the world. I played in it for the last few years so for me it was a very important thing when deciding to move. This is where you want to play.”
Explaining how he had to make a difficult conversation with Malen, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said: “Of course, it’s not a good decision I had to take yesterday, but I spoke with Andres and Donyell to tell them the decision and I argued my decision with them.
“I spoke with him [Malen] and tried to be honest and knowing it was not fair for him. But the necessary decision I had to take was in that direction.”
